Kernel crash via uninitialized LAN8814 PHY pointer
Published Dec 4, 2025 · Updated May 11, 2026
NULL-pointer dereference in Linux kernel versions starting at 6.10 allows local users to crash the kernel via a LAN8814 PTP interrupt. The LAN8814 PTP probe can return before assigning shared->phydev, but lan8814_gpio_process_cap later dereferences that pointer during IRQ handling. Reachability requires LAN8814 hardware, unsuccessful PTP clock registration, and subsequent IRQ processing; the reported consequence is a kernel crash.
Summary
What happened
NULL-pointer dereference in Linux kernel versions starting at 6.10 allows local users to crash the kernel via a LAN8814 PTP interrupt. The LAN8814 PTP probe can return before assigning shared->phydev, but lan8814_gpio_process_cap later dereferences that pointer during IRQ handling. Reachability requires LAN8814 hardware, unsuccessful PTP clock registration, and subsequent IRQ processing; the reported consequence is a kernel crash.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2025-40239
- Published
- Dec 4, 2025
- Updated
- May 11, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- T1499
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Dec 4, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- May 11, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
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- Affected versionversion=6.10
- Affected versionversion=b3f1a08fcf0dd58d99b14b9f8fbd1929f188b746 <399d10934740ae8cdaa4e3245f7c5f6c332da844
- Affected versionversion=b3f1a08fcf0dd58d99b14b9f8fbd1929f188b746 <b093b06826b836c2824858669db080c190c04715
- Affected versionversion=b3f1a08fcf0dd58d99b14b9f8fbd1929f188b746 <da1ef8e9eb5d4a12bec32d11636e521e7d529b9e
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Attacks
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Technologies
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